Foot-propelled boat



Oct. 27, 1942. c. H. CLARK 2,299,737

vF OO' 1-FROPELLED BOAT Filed July 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.(imam flasks Cum/e I XTTORNEYSE Oct. 27, 1942. .c, H. CLARK 2,299,737-

FOOT-PROPELLED BOAT Filed Juiy 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.Cl/ARIES [ha/(11. ("Z/vex QRMM ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 27, 1942 7 2,299,737 roorrmossnmnsosrCharIeSJIIaskeIlCIark, San Francisco, Calif. Application Julie; 1940,serial No. 344,241. stains. .01.3 -23) UNITED} STATES T EN O IC Myinvention relates. to foot propelled boats, and more particularly tofoot propelled". b'oats having novel features making the boat ideal; foruse in waters such as lake's,.p'onds-, lagoons, or other protectedbodiesof water, where boats are provided for amusement, for hire-and foruse by the general public. 1

Among the objects of my invention arezTo provide a foot propelled boatof exceptional safety; to provide a boat thatzcan be eflicientlypropelled by one, two, or three peopley'to provide a foot propelled boathaving a noveltpedalzsystem; to provide afootpropelled boat havingsafety bumpers; to provide a boat having inovel paddle wheel; andtoprovide a simple, efficient, and safe-foot. propelled boatforamusement. purposesl Other objects) of'my invention will be apparent orwill be specifically pointed outdn the description forming apart ofthisspecification, but I do not limit myself to the embodiment'of theinvention hereindescribed, as various forms may beadopt'ed withinthescope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Figurel is a top view of one, preferred formof my invention adapted for.sheltered locations. Figure 2 is a sideview, partlyin section and partlyin elevation, of the boat shown in Figurel. .J' Figure 3 is aview,partly in longitudinal section andpartly in elevation, taken through theuse .by the public in paddle wheel.

Figure 4 is an expanded view of the pontoons, bumper, bodyand rudderframes.

My invention may be more clearly understood by direct reference to thedrawings. I prefer to form the main structure of my boat as a catamarancomprising a pair of lateral hulls or pontoons l and 2. Hulls l and 2are, of, course, hollow.

To connect pontoons l and 2 I provide each pontoon with body cleats 3 3and 3, to which a body frame 4 may be attached and thereby positioned,this body frame having central and rear cross members I l and I2,respectively, being shown separated from the pontoons in Fig. 4. Betweenthe pontoons is placed a bumper assemb1y5, having longitudinal bars 6connected by front and rear platforms 1 and 8, respectively, whichextend over the top surfaces of the pontoon ends so as to position thebumper vertically with the bumper bars 6 parallel and adjacent theinside facing pontoon surfaces.

nal bars 6' to whichwone end ,of four bumper springs I0 areattached,the. other endsbeingattached to central cross. member 11- of-frame j l.Thus, when the bumper plates 1 and: :8. are hit, the entire bumperassembly will slide along the hull iunder COlltI'OlxOf springs l0,thereby cusha.

ioning the blow and preventing hard. contact with wharves or otherboats.- The outer upper edge of the hullsil and 2 is also provided withrubber bumpers 2i and 22. l l I Rising from body frame 4is a protectiveen' closure 25.brought to a linear joint; 26" at the front of the boatand closed by seat 21 at the :rear. of the. boat, this seat beingprovided with a detachable back 29. The back of seat 29 is providedwitha hinged spray plate 30} extendingto the *rear to cover a paddlewheel .3I. Paddle wheel-3|. ismounted on a paddle wheel shaft 32 mountedin bearings 33 on bearing supports 34 extending upwardly from frame 4.One endof shaft 32 extends direct through bearing support 34 andterminates in a gear 35 with. which a chain 36 is engaged, this chainextendingforward and-covered by a protecting housing. 39.

The front loop of the chain engages a pedal gear 40, which is mounted onone. end of a pedal crank shaft 42 journalediat opposite sides ofhousing 25in crank shaft bearings 44. t

: The construction of the: pedal crank shaft 42 is such that one, .tWOOII' three persons sittingin seat 2l may operate the crank shaft andthereby turn paddle wheel 3!. To accomplish this I provide the crankshaft 42. with lateral opposed. cranks and 5|, these lateral crankshaving single width foot pedals 52 thereon. CentraLcranks "5.4 and 55are opposed. to each other and to the adjacent lateral crank, and havedouble width pedals 56 thereon.

While it is obvious that paddle wheel 3| may be of any well known type,I prefer to form this paddle wheel from two lateral discs 60 and SIspaced by paddle blade assemblies 64 formed from a plurality of adjacentradially disposed dowels 65, these radially disposed dowels beingalined; and only slightly spaced.

Steering of the boat is provided by a tiller 10 hinged to an uprightfront rudder bar II which is hinged to linear joint 26 of enclosure 25and extends downwardly to terminate in a swinging front rudder 12 hingedon bolt 14 so that impact either in the forward or reverse directionwith an obstacle will rotate the front rudder 12 in a spring bars 9 areprovided also joining longitudi- 55 vertical plane to pass over theobstruction. The top of front rudder post H is preferably provided withan ornament 15, in this case a reprepulley attached to the rear rudderassembly to operate a rear rudder post 85 hinged to a rudder postupright 85 at the rear of rudder post assembly 88 which is bolted tobody frame assembly 4. The rear rudder post 85 is provided with rearrudder 81 hinged to rudder post 85 in exactly the same manner as frontrudder is hinged .to front rudder post H. Movement of tiller 10therefore moves both rudders simultaneously in opposite directions togive both forward and rear steering. Inoperation, if one person is usingthe boat, this person may' sit in the center of seat 21 and put his feeton pedals 15 to operate cranks 54 .and 55. This isthe idealsinglelperson position,

but it willbe obvious that a singleperson could sit on either side ofthe seat 27 and operate one lateral crank and one central crank. Pushingon the pedals will, of course, rotate the crank shaft and connectedpaddle wheel thus propelling the boat. If two persons are in the.boat,one person may sitin the center of the boat and operate the centralcranks A and 55, and the other person may operateone lateral crank andonecentral crank, the central pedals 56 being wide enough for two feetto be placed thereon, or both persons may sit at opposite sides of.seatl'l and each operate one lateral crank and one central crank. Ifthree persons are using the boat, they may all pedal, the central personoperating central cranks 54 and 55 and the lateral persons operating onelateral crank and one adjacent central crank. Thus, there will be twofeeton each central pedal 55 and one foot on each lateral' pedal 52.

I prefer to utilize the dowel type of paddle blade described hereinbecause I have found that such a paddle blade is efilcient in operation,is easy to make, and by leaving spaces between the dowels the waterquickly drains from the blades through the spaces between the dowels andtherefore little water is carried around the wheel. Also, the dowelsupon entering the Water immediately. create a vacuum on the surface ofthe dowel facing the direction of motionof the craft, thuscorrespondingly increasing their effectiveness as a means of propulsion.This is not the case when a fiat paddle is used.

Reference to Fig. 4 will show that my invention is readily demountablefor shipment, in that by removal of only a few bolts the deviceseparates into units comprising the pontoons, the body and frame, thebumper, the rear rudder frame, and the wheel, thus making for easytransportation.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided a boat designed for amusementpurposes, which is easily demonstrable and with the following novelfeatures: a unit shock absorbing bumper is utilized to take up the shockof collision, both front and rear; also, both front and rear steering isY employed allowing excellent control of the device safeguarded againstbreakage.

under all circumstancees; and the rudders are Furthermore, a type ofpaddle is used which, by means of the vacuum it creates, pulls on thewater on the vacuum side and pushes on the. water on the driving side.deviceis increased, and losses are reduced to a minimum by providingquick draining between the dowels which form the paddles when thepaddles are moving upwardly.

I claim:

1.A boat comprising a pair of pontoons each having a substantiallystraight inner side, a body frame spacing said pontoons. a body mountedon said frame, a front and rear rudder journaled respectively to thefront and rear of the boat;

said rudders being interconnected to steer the.

boat in any desired direction. and a bumper assembly. between saidpontoons; said bumper assembly including a front platform, a rearplatform, and a pair of spaced bumper barsiconnecting said front andrear platforms; said bumper bars being arranged in parallel relationshipadjacent to the straight inner sides of said pontoons.

2; In a boat, a pair of pontoons each having a substantially straightinner side, abody frame spacing said pontoons, and a bumper assemblyincluding a front platform, a rear platform, and a pair of spaced bumperbars connecting said front and rear platforms; said bumper bars beingarranged in parallel relationship adjacent to the inner sides of saidpontoons.

3. In a boat, a pair of pontoons each having a substantially straightinner side, a body frame spacing said pontoons, and a bumper assemblyincluding a pair of spaced bumper bars resiliently connected to saidframe and arranged in parallel relationship adjacent to the inner sidesof said pontoons. 7

CHARLES HASKELL CLARK.

Thus, propelling efiiciency of the

